The present invention relates to a support means end connection for fastening an end of a support means in an elevator installation, an elevator installation with support means end connection and method for fastening an end of a support means in an elevator installation.
An elevator installation usually consists of a car and a counterweight which are moved in opposite sense in an elevator shaft. The car and the counterweight are connected together and supported by means of a support means. An end of the support means is in that case fastened by a support means end connection to the car or the counterweight or in the elevator shaft. The support means end connection accordingly has to transmit the force, which acts in the support means, to the car or the counterweight or to the elevator shaft. It has to be designed in such a manner that it can securely transmit a required supporting force of the support means. Currently, increasing use is made of support means in which several cables or cable strands are combined to form a support means. The support means in that case consists of at least two cables or cable strands extending at a spacing from one another and a common cable casing. The cables or cable strands then substantially serve for transmission of supporting and movement forces and the cable casing protects the cables or cable strands from external influences and improves the transmission capability of drive forces introduced into the support means by drive engines.
In known embodiments of support means end connections the support means is fixed in a wedge pocket by means of a wedge.
A support means end connection for a support means provided with an elastomeric sheathing is known from patent publication WO 00/40497. The elastomeric sheathing sheaths and/or separates the individual cables or cable strands and it defines a force transmission surface relative to the drive engine. In this support means end connection a wedge angle shall be selected in such a manner that the pressure loading, which is produced by the wedge for a given length and width, on the support means produces lower values than the permissible pressure loading of the elastomeric sheathing.
In this construction a proposal is indeed made for force introduction from the support means end connection to the cable casing of the support means, but the transmission of the force from the casing to the actual supporting cable or cable strands is not solved. The coefficients of friction within a cable strand or a cable are in many cases smaller than from the cable casing to the connecting parts. This has the consequence that a cable strand or a cable is held only insufficiently within the cable casing, whereby the permissible load-bearing force of the support means is limited.